How to survive your first holiday season as a retail manager

by Bob Phibbs — CEO, The Retail Doctor

When I was in college, I worked nights and weekends in a department store. I was there for the the guys shopping on Christmas Eve and for the after-holiday…

Visa's chief economist offers holiday shopping forecast

November 18, 2013

Wayne Best, chief economist for Visa, has announced the findings of this year's Visa Spending Intentions survey. Conducted for Visa by Prosper Insights and…

Millennials are accepting more lax privacy policies in exchange for rewards

by Jeff Fromm — Executive Vice President, Barkley

Online privacy policies always seem to be a bunch of gibberish. Who actually reads the privacy policy anymore? When given the option to either read pages of…

New survey reveals consumer holiday shopping habits

November 18, 2013

A new survey published by Alliance Data Retail Services shows that consumers are being more cautious with their shopping this holiday season, taking longer to…

Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales to grow 2.2 percent

November 18, 2013

For the fourth year in a row, disposable incomes have only inched up, wearing on consumers' ability to shop 'til they drop. October's government shutdown…

Symphony EYC unveils loyalty campaign management platform

November 18, 2013

Retail solution provider Symphony EYC has announced the availability of Symphony EYC Engage, a next-generation targeting analytics and loyalty campaign…

Research reveals impact of Pinterest on e-commerce

November 15, 2013

Software firm Piqora, which offers a marketing suite for "the visual Web" (Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr), has released preliminary findings of its research…

140 million people expected to shop online Thanksgiving weekend

November 15, 2013

For the first time since 2002, Thanksgiving falls as late as the calendar possibly allows it to, but eager holiday shoppers are already mapping their…

Four ways to fight showrooming with data

A thorough understanding of the practice can lead to strategies that help thwart the loss of customers to online competition.

Intel pop-up stores coming to NYC this month

November 14, 2013

Intel joins the ranks of Microsoft and Apple later this month when it opens its first pop-up store in New York's NoLita area on Nov. 23. A report from Engadget…

Loyalty provider CrowdTwist announces partnerships with VivaKi, Acxiom and IBM

November 14, 2013

CrowdTwist, a provider of omni-channel loyalty and analytics solutions, has announced three new partnerships with global brands VivaKi, Acxiom, and IBM.

Holiday shopping survey reveals Thanksgiving, Black Friday plans

November 14, 2013

Global consultancy Accenture has released the results of its 2013 Holiday Shopping Survey, which polls U.S. consumers on their plans for the upcoming weeks.

America's Research Group, Inmar Forecasting see 'significant increase in Black Friday shopping'

November 13, 2013

According to the "Christmas & Holiday Shopping Forecast" released today by America's Research Group and Inmar, retailers can expect an increase of nearly…

Gift card spending reaches all-time high

November 13, 2013

It's personal, it's practical, and it comes with a price tag that matches anyone's budget — it's a gift card, and this season 8 in 10 (80.6 percent) shoppers…

Report shows most consumers comfortable with personalized marketing

November 13, 2013

Sociomantic Labs, a provider of programmatic advertising solutions for e-commerce marketers, has announced initial findings from a new study on consumer…

More than half of U.S. shoppers have started their holiday shopping

November 12, 2013

Early October holiday promotions struck a chord with millions of Americans as 53.8 percent of shoppers say they have already started holiday shopping…

Amazon, USPS to offer Sunday package delivery

November 11, 2013

Earlier this year, the U.S. Postal Service sought to staunch some of its financial bleeding by eliminating letter delivery on Saturday. That didn't end up…

Barnes & Noble announces 'Discovery Friday,' marketing campaign

November 11, 2013

Barnes & Noble, Inc. wants to start the holiday shopping season earlier than anyone else: Today the retailer announced Barnes & Noble Discovery Friday…

Strong 'shopping intensity' expected for Thanksgiving-holiday period

November 8, 2013

Consumers are geared up for the Thanksgiving shopping days, according to a special national consumer poll of 1,000 households that was commissioned by the…

Brand Keys survey predicts 5% decrease in holiday retail sales

November 8, 2013

Increased use of mobile outreach and planning, coupled with an increased number of retail-developed mobile apps, means traditional retailers will have to truly…